This invention pertains to machines and processes for removing dry and wet liquid particulates, and more particularly, to a vacuum cleaner loader and process for removing asbestos and other hazardous materials.
Government studies and numerous health reports have linked exposure to asbestos fibers with serious diseases including asbestoses, fibrosis, and lung cancer. Asbestoses has also been thought to cause or aggravate other maladies, such as emphysema, tuberculosis, bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia, inflammations, and infections. Many people who worked in asbestos manufacturing plants or who were employed installing asbestos insulation, have developed cancer and died.
For many decades, asbestos was commonly used as an insulator for houses, schools, factories, and public buildings. Asbestos fibers are readily circulated in the air and are dangerous if inhaled. The presence of asbestos in insulation in buildings can be harmful and injurious to the health, safety, and well being of children and adults alike.
Contamination of buildings with asbestos insulation can be cured by removing the asbestos. Asbestos removal, however, is not easy. Various industrial vacuum cleaners, loaders, and collectors have been tried but have not been very effective. Furthermore, collection, and disposal of asbestos with conventional prior art equipment often exposes the operator and surrounding personnel to concentrated amounts of the collected asbestos, which can be dangerous, harmful, and even fatal.
Also, in industry, voluminous amounts of particulate matter, debris, dust, waste, and other hazardous material are emitted during machining, foundry, milling, shipment, warehousing, assembling, fabricating, and other manufacturing operations. Particulates of hazardous material emitted during a manufacturing operation can include metal slivers, plastic chips, wood shavings, dirt, sand, and other debris. Particulates accumulate on floors, machines, packaging materials, equipment, and personnel. Particulates of hazardous material can also be carried and circulated in the air and can be harmful, if breathed, swallowed, or stuck in an eye. Particulates of hazardous material can damage, erode, and adversely effect the efficiency and operability of equipment. Hazardous material can also pollute the atmosphere. It may also impair the quality of the products manufactured.
Asbestos emissions and emissions of other hazardous material are not only dangerous and troublesome, but are particularly aggravating and grievous in schools, houses, public buildings, and where relatively dust-free conditions and sterile environments are required, such as in food processing plants and medical supply houses.
Over the years, a variety of vacuum cleaners, loaders, collectors, and other equipment have been suggested for removing dust and debris and for other purposes. Typifying these vacuum cleaners, loaders, collectors, and equipment are those found in U.S Pat. Nos. 485,915, 795,412, 2,276,805, 2,372,316, 2,496,180, 2,604,956, 3,320,727, 3,485,671, 3,541,631, 3,554,520, 3,577,705, 3,608,283, 3,650,420, 3,717,901, 3,731,464, 3,780,502, 3,955,236, 3,970,489, 4,032,424, 4,062,664, 4,111,670, 4,174,206, and 4,224,043. These prior art vacuum cleaners, loaders, collectors, and equipment have met with varying degrees of success.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide an improved vacuum loader and process which overcomes most, if not all, of the preceding problems.